27 October 2013

Alright don't worry even if things end up a bit too heavy

Hope you all brought your washing in, UK-ites. Battened down your cats. Tied any elderly relatives to a sturdy object. Put children in the basement. That sort of thing.

We're not taking Mycroft back to school - he is, sadly, still going - but Anthea's taking him in a vehicle that could probably survive the apocalypse, let alone a bit of a stiff breeze.

Motorbikes wouldn't have been a good idea. I have no desire to take up any emergnecy service's time and energy by doing something stupid.

Although I think it fairly likely I'll get some work off the back of it, if it is as bad as they say it will be.

Sherlock is desperate to stay awake and see it all. Although it'll probably result in a few recycling boxes and bin lids blowing around and the odd tree giving up and having a lie down.

Today. Today was...I'm still a bit lost for words.

We went in, filled out a form, then were taken in to a small room with a tank in it. The guy explained that one button controlled the lights, one controlled an intercom to the reception. There was one of those inflatable neck collars, if you wanted it, and a bottle of fresh water, for if you managed to get salt in your eyes.

This was my tank. Mycroft said it was a bit bigger than his, and he wanted me to have it. Either because I'm larger, or because I was the scared one ;) or both.

Anyway, they leave you, you lock the door, you take your clothes off, you have a quick shower, you get your earplugs in...then you get in the tank.

There's sort of...music. I mean, trancey floaty music. Relaxing.

You pull the lid down (if you want to) and hit the button for the lights.

I left my lights on for about a minute, maybe, while I sort of...got sorted. Felt what it was like to float.

Then I turned the lights off...the lights in the room were obviously off by that time, but the music carried on for a few more minutes.

I spent a lot of time thinking about the tank, the water, floating. You drift slightly, so if you touch a wall, and even push the tiniest bit - just with one finger - then about a minute later, you hit the other side.

Anyway, yeah...then started thinking about my body, muscles, how it felt. Once the music was off you could hear your body, which was weird. I click when I blink. My fingers creak quite loudly. So does my jaw.

I had to stretch out a few times, and the clicks and crunches by body made were...slightly alarming. But it felt good. I did move occasionally, just to sort of...check. And it was odd that it made no difference if your eyes were open or closed - it was pitch black whatever.

I didn't really get lost in my thoughts. They said that every time you did it you'd relax faster, and sort of....zone out, more.

Mycroft said he managed that more. Which I can imagine, really.

At the end I was completely not in control of my body. My muscles felt like jelly. You have to shower again, wash off all the epsom salts, try not to get it in your eyes or mouth (I did both).

And then heading back onto a London street just seemed...horrific, really. I had to drag Mycroft to get a coffee and have a sit down.

I didn't try and I wouldn't unless you said it was okay and thank you for telling me about it and saying how it could happen in a murder and there's a buoy in the sea and it sends back messages to the shore and it just recorded a 21 foot high wave. I hope a tree falls over and we can go and see it and it doesn't hurt anyone.

Oh, good point! And it's not an unreasonable hope--there is a higher density of trees in parks than in not-parks in cities, after all. Order placed: One downed tree in a park, where it doesn't block anything important.

Sherlock, where I live we get a lot of really bad wind storms, and this last year we lost a lot of trees. It's really neat to see them, especially if they pull up bits of the ground around them. This photo was from several months ago, but I think it looks cool.

Which buoy was it that recorded the wave, did you catch the identifier or the location?Wasn't one of the automatic light vessels, was it? (I'm assuming you would have said, if it was some relatively famous instrument like Channel Light Vessel Automatic... or am I just weird, for thinking of CLVA as famous?)

Anyway I'm guessing it was something in an even more unprotected area that recorded that wave. Gonna go look it up now!

AftSO, weather geek who is totally going to go listen to the shipping forecast just because the numbers will be pretty crazy right now....

I feel like the country is split along lines of 'can remember '87'/'Can't remember '87'.

I was on duty in 87. I was mainly used as ballast to keep small children and elderly people upright until they got to their homes. And must have said 'Sorry, road's closed' 'No, really closed, there's a tree down' 'no, you definitely can't fit past' about a million times, in various locations.

Yeah, it's hard to see much storm in the dark. Much better to wake up to it as it gets light and appreciate the power then. But you know, I say this and I have trouble going to sleep before a storm anyway.

And wow, I am NOT missing the hurricane we had last year at this time, nor the really bad cold I had during the hurricane either. I mean, at least I didn't lose power and the house wasn't damaged, but being sick was not fun and it made the whole thing much more weird. Stay safe and healthy everybody!

there are a few photos on the BBC news web site of downed trees in parts of London and elsewhere already. Looks like a pretty serious storm, I hope you don't get tunnel flooding like happened with Hurricane Sandy in NYC. The tank experience sounds awesome, thank you for telling us about it! Now I wonder if there is anywhere around here I could try it...well, stay safe everyone over there!S

Hope you guys are all okay. The storm seems to have gone south of us. Lots of heavy rain in the early morning (which didn't wake me), picture of a very wet reporter and lots of water on the ground. And the roads that normally flood have flooded. So nothing that would make anything other than the local news.

BBC article leads me to believe the vast majority of the damage is related to downed trees, so that's lucky at least. Could have been so much worse. A friend of mine visiting the UK and France apparently managed to sneak onto the last train out of the UK this morning, so she's on her way south.

Glad you didn't get called out, L, and that the vast majority of people over there seem mostly okay.

I'm glad downed trees are the worst of it. Not that falling trees aren't dangerous, and I saw that there were some deaths. Sounds like the storm didn't stick around, and that helps cut down on the damage, though.

Sherlock, did you notice anything interesting caught in the tree roots? One of my college professors talked about finding the site where he did his excavations because a tree fell over and there was a skeleton with armor stuck in the roots. (Well, bits and pieces of a skeleton...)

I didn't believe it when first I heard of it, because New Haven is old and creepy enough already, but it's true! I don't know what they've found out about the body since, though. I should go and look that up....

He went on a walk and found me some of the best trees and one had even squashed a car but it was parked and no one was hurt and then next he says we can have hot chocolate with cream and marshmallows too.

You're an amazing Nanny, you know. Sherlock hasn't stopped talking about trees and destruction since I got in. He's over the moon you went and found him 'the best' fallen down trees. I'm fairly sure most people would think one tree on it's side is the same as another, and think the ones he saw this morning were good enough.

It leaves many, many questions. Even if they've confessed. Everything has to be gone over, sent off, signed, stored, submitted. It's just... incredibly complicated. And you always wonder if something else will happen that will mean it all needs to be dug over again. If the suspect died as a result of something other than their own hand, it's even worse, because then they become both suspect and victim, and you're left chasing your own tail with paperwork.

Death in general involves a lot of paperwork. My father passed away last week, and none of us were prepared. I had no idea how much paperwork and legal things had to be done when someone died. I can't imagine the mountain of paperwork involved for someone in custody.

I didn't mean to be a downer, it's just... I really had no idea there was so much freaking paperwork when a person dies, not to mention so many other things to take care of. I couldn't handle it on a regular basis, even if I didn't know the person. Everyone who does has my deepest respect.

((Piplover)) I'm so sorry for your loss. My sister and I did the paperwork for our mom a few years back, and it's true, you can't believe how much there is. You need at least 10-15 original death certificates. Not like a birth certificate, where one will do ya. Just when you think you've finished, another thing crops up. It must be extra-awful not expecting it, I'm so sorry. Although, I've noticed, it doesn't really seem to matter if someone was old and ill, or not, it always feels too-soon. I hope you have a good support network of family and friends near you.S

Here I am again, your LateAnon friend. :) I had a *Cool!* moment when I read that you and Sherlock (or maybe John and Sherlock?) had Black Forest Gateau after Sherlock got his reward for his fantastic swimming. I was the one who asked you if you'd ever baked one and you told me they were called BFGs. So it was cool to read about one; I had no idea it was something you all had eaten fairly recently!

My second comment is a bit more general (not really related to a recent blog post but overall). I wanted to tell you how impressed I am that you always stand up for Mycroft whenever Sherlock gets a bit impatient with his brother, or says he's boring, or whatever. And you just say "No, he's not" and remind Sherlock that Mycroft is enjoying whatever it is he's doing, whether reading or watching the sky.

I can tell from how you and John write on here that Sherlock does love his bro and misses him a lot and Mycroft is incredibly patient with Sherlock and no doubt loves him back. I have noticed that when something is really going on, Mycroft is always there. He seems to be the sort that shows more than he tells; I mean, he shows his love with his actions, and service to people. I guess in that way he's rather like John.

I guess it all touches me because I was severely bullied at home by my own brother. It's not the same at all as what your two brilliant boys get up to but I think it still means a great deal that you speak up for Mycroft EVERY TIME and in so doing, you remind Sherlock of all the things that are really great about his big brother.

Every time. You have never failed to speak up, and I am just blown over by that. And even though he has never said anything (at least in public, on the blogs) I can almost guarantee you that Mycroft notices it too.